In the Wake of the News

Chicago Blackhawks set tone early and often

April 26, 2009|By Rick Morrissey

Losing is one thing. Losing quietly is another.

And so the Blackhawks, upset by their relative tameness in a Game 4 loss, came out hitting Saturday night. If they were going to lose Game 5 of their best-of-seven playoff series against Calgary, it wasn't going to be without a fight. Or a hard check. Or, if necessary, something that might be considered felonious off the ice.

They can wrap up this Western Conference quarterfinal with a victory Monday in Calgary. They can do that by doing what they did in Saturday's 5-1 victory: Hit.

And hit again.

Before another roaring crowd at the United Center, they hit back against the perception that they're not as tough as the Flames.

"You hear that a lot," Hawks defenseman Cam Barker said. "I think that's something we can do just as well as them. When we get pucks deep and we get on the forecheck, we're just as physical as them."

All the good things that occurred in the first period came out of controlled aggressiveness. The Hawks' first goal, by Brent Seabrook, came on a power play, thanks to Cory Sarich's cross-check, which was the result of a severe case of chafing.

Before that goal, Dustin Byfuglien had two big hits and Ben Eager another for the Hawks. The Flames clearly were frustrated by this. What does a frustrated team do? It cross-checks.

The Hawks scored three goals in a little less than two minutes midway through the first period. They outshot Calgary 15-3 in that period. That's what happens when A) you're in perpetual motion, B) you forecheck and C) you're tired of hockey masquerading as a peace movement.

The teams combined for 86 penalty minutes in Game 3 and only 10 in Game 4. If you can't count on rough stuff in playoff hockey, what can you count on in life?

The Hawks came into this game looking to set an immediate tone. They had been outhit in Games 3 and 4. If they had been lying on a sports psychologist's couch, some might have admitted they felt like lesser men for the lack of hits.

But others thought the sheep vs. wolf imagery was overstated.

"I think everybody loves talking about that," left wing Andrew Ladd said. "I don't think that has been an issue the whole series. I think we've held our own physically the entire series. It's part of our game."

Going into the game, Hawks right wing Adam Burish had talked about the fine line players have to walk, or skate, between being aggressive and being in the penalty box all night. Burish broke a stick over Rene Bourque's shoulder in Game 3 and didn't get a penalty for it, though it did set off a near-riot.

"You still have to challenge guys," he said. "You still can't give a guy like [the Flames'] Jarome Iginla a free pass on a night. He's too good to give him a free pass. If you don't challenge those kind of guys, you're going to get burned. I don't think the physical play is going to stop. I hope it doesn't stop. I'm not going to stop, I know that."

After Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg scored to make it 3-0, it was clear the Flames had to come out in the second period with fire in their eyes if they wanted to get back in this. They cut the lead to 3-1 on Dustin Boyd's put-back of Adam Pardy's backhand.

Was this it? Was this where the Hawks gave peace a chance again? No.

A Ladd goal made it 4-1. Calgary coach Mike Keenan pulled goalie Miikka Kiprusoff after that score and inserted Curtis McElhinney, but the goaltending wasn't the problem. The Hawks were dominating the Flames physically, and the result was people like Ladd camping in front of the net.

Barker's goal later in the second seemed to indicate Kiprusoff hadn't been the culprit. The Hawks were just better. They were more together than the Flames.

Togetherness -- that's one of the things that stands out about hockey. More than perhaps all other sports, it demands teamwork, physical sacrifice and a surrendering of personal goals for the team. You go all out for two minutes and get off the ice after the shift. If you let up at any point during those two minutes, there's a decent chance you and your team are going to pay. There's certainly no time for selfishness. There's no profit in it. You can't skate through two defenders and get to the net. A hockey player can't take over a game by himself, unless he goes by the name of Gretzky.

What we saw Saturday night was regular-season hockey ratcheted up about 20 notches. Playoff hockey raises everything: the hitting, the skating, the emotions. It's why Burish was predicting lots of physical play for Game 5. It's why Eager and Pardy went at it in the third period.

At that point, the Flames were trying to set the tone for Game 6. Expect more of the same Monday.

"We want to keep some gas on the pedal," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We kept the pressure on. That's what we're looking for. We want to have traffic at the net, and that's what we're going to need going into Calgary."